Beginner - Help Required

[WWGenesis]

I've started playing the game for a bit. I main Sheik. The problem is that I'm stuck on one aspect of her gameplay that I simply can't execute (tech) - SHFFLing (mainly with the L Canceling part).

I've searched up multiple threads that talk about picking a low-level CPU, 99 stock with handicaps + damage ratios reduced to 0.5 to practice the timing, but I simply don't know if I'm getting the SHFFL right or not.

Other people have suggested that I use Link or Bowser to get started. It's great that I'm fairly consistent at L canceling with their Dairs for instance, but this doesn't exactly help me since Sheik has a different timing at doing it (I don't feel as though I'm getting the timing down consistently at all).

I can Wavedashing, DDing, Basic DI, Teching, JC Grabs and all that, but simply can't get down SHFFLing consistently.

How do I practice SHFFLing to get it to be very consistent + know when I'm SHFFLing properly? Your comments are very much appreciated.

As another quick note, does anybody have any strategies to get the short hop to be fairly consistent with Sheik? She seems to be the only character I have problems very consistently short-hopping with (I'm even consistent with characters like Fox).

 

[The 2t]

Depending on how you're using your aerials, some of them may actually have already finished their animation before you hit the ground because some of Sheik's aerials come out very fast and have short animations. So for example, if you jump and fair someone without fastfalling, the aerial's animation may actually be over before you even hit the ground. Keep in mind the only time an aerial needs to be L-cancelled is if its animation is still happening at the time your character lands on the ground (or a platform).

That may or may not have anything to do with the issue you're having, but it's the first thing that came to mind when you said you play Sheik, especially since you mentioned that you can do it with other characters just fine.

Apart from that it's basically just practise. If you only just started recently, the act of consistently short hopping + fastfalling and then L-cancelling your aerials all in one swift movement is incredibly fiddly and probably feels kind of strange to do. A lot of the regular posters on here have been playing for years and take these things for granted at this point; it's easy to forget how difficult it was to learn a lot of this stuff when just starting out. But yeah it can take quite a lot of time before this stuff becomes second nature. Just keep at it and don't be discouraged and eventually it'll get easier to do these things consistently.

 

[Xyzz]

You can try to do some action as soon as the l cancel ends (which you should learn to do anyways, there's no reason to ever just stand there and watch your character looking pretty. Jab them, dash away, grab them, just do sth :D). If you learn to those well enough you'll notice that your l cancel didn't work, because your character won't behave as he is supposed to and still in lag while your input happens.

 

[KrIsP!]

Just keep at it. It'll just click after a couple weeks, go into training mode and slow it down if you need confirmation that you're doing it correctly but honestly it's just about working on the muscle memory, once you have it down you'll notice it. Try simple combos that you see in a video, ones that require shffls to work. TBH I remember thinking "I don't think I've come any closer to even pulling this off" and going to "was there really a time when I couldn't do this? I just do it, press the buttons and it happens."

 

[Double Helix]

Another way to practice shffling is simply try to waveland after you do an aerial. If you can waveland, then you know that move doesn't need to be L-cancelled when you (for example) don't fast fall, but if you do, you won't miss the L-cancel (if you use the L button to wavedash/waveland).

Edit: Oops. Didn't cover short hops. Alternate between full hops and short hops, then once you do that, do 2 full hops and a short hop or 2 short hops and a full hop. Character control is everything so you need to be able to do it on command. These exercises will help.

 

[BlueMagic]

It weird you have problems short hopping consistently with Sheik if you can do it with Fox. I would suggest pretty much drilling.

When I was learning SHFFLing, I would first practice short hopping. I would do it thousands of times. Then when you can do it pretty much comfortably, you move on to FFing your short hop. Then you add in an aerial attack. then you start L-canceling. If you get stuck on one of these, you can also try not FFing and just short hop aerial L-cancel. Even full hop aerial L-cancel can help if you have problems with L-canceling. Just think, what are you having most trouble with? Work on that continuously. I still practice SHFFLing different aerials as a warm-up about 1000 times. Moving, not moving, backwards, forwards, out of a wavedash, out of shield, SHFFLing is probably the most used button input in the game so you have to make sure you can do it anywhere at anytime and solidly.

 

[WWGenesis]

Thank you for the help everybody. SHFFLing's starting to become easier for me as I've been practicing some more on it.

Just 2 things I want to ask everybody.

1) When Sheik hits her SHFFL Fair correctly, you are able to immediately jab from it right? (Otherwise there'd be a slight delay and you wouldn't be able to immediately jab from it).
2) What does everybody train when they are alone and how do they go about doing this? All I know so far is picking a level 1~3 CPU, 99 stocks, 0.5 damage ratio, 1 to 9 handicap for stuff like SHFFLing.

 

[Stratocaster]

1) L-canceling halves lag, so Sheik has 16 frames (1 frame = 1/60 second) of lag on fair, and this becomes 8 when L-canceled. So there is still some lag. There is even a very small amount of lag if you land normally (4 frames I think). So you can never jab *immediately*, but yes you should be able to jab very quickly (8/60 of a second).
2) Personally I usually set time to none and reset when I'm done. I prefer to do tech practice without an opponent by putting a controller in slot 2. You could set a handicap when you want, but that way you don't have to worry about them when you are trying to focus on mastering something new. Learn a skill with no possible interruptions first and then introduce an opponent.

Try L-canceling with up air first, it has the most lag. Be sure to wait until you are about to hit the ground, up air, then L-cancel. Dair has the second most lag, and then the other 3 are equal. So try practicing the ones with more lag first so the change is more noticeable.

 

[Double Helix]

Since Stratocaster basically covered the first one, I'll just cover number two.

2) When I want to train alone (which is usually the only way I get to train), if you have a mom that can play rock paper scissors you can do a name entry glitch so you can just go to a stage by yourself. It will just be your character and I set the timer to none. There is a way to do the name entry glitch on your own, but it is much harder. If you use the A button (though for Sheik I would probably use the C-stick, whatever you are comfortable with), training mode works fine as well.

Keep in mind that you will only be able to practice shffling on hit and on miss. The timing gets a bit different on shield and on light shield, but it will come with time. Remember to have fun. It is a bit of hard work, but nothing you can't handle.

 

[Dr. Poopoo]

The timing changes slightly whether you hit or miss with the attack. and a lot of times with rising aerials onto platforms, people forget to fast fall and miss the l-cancel. i main Sheik too and I'm pretty sure she's the hardest character to short hop with. that just takes practice